The wait is killer for the 20 year old boy. Impatient for his name to be called among the other youths of the future, he had held the numbers three to seven on most sites but it was getting close to double digits by now. Finally, he hears his name as he arises to greet the leader of it all, David Stern. The team is the uncertain New Jersey Nets but the young center is just happy to have made it. Brook Lopez turns to his brother and smiles. He is finally here. Born in Los Angeles, Lopez moved to Washington to be closer to his oldest brother who was playing at the University of Washington. After a short time of watching him play, he moved back to Fresno, California a year later, where he attended San Joaquin Memorial High School with his brother and current Phoenix Sun, Robin. After a successful high school career, scouts were all over the two brothers as they both towered at seven feet each making them a deadly combo. “Solid body and strong frame. Offensive game will need work but he might not ever be a high point scorer. Does a nice job of rebounding and standing his ground inside. Excellent student-athlete,” Scout.com accessed of the giant ranking him the third best center in the United States behind number one overall pick, Greg Oden and current Sacramento Kings center, Spencer Hawes. The laid back twins had dreamed of playing for Stanford ever since they were a kid when family was a big part of who they are as people and as basketball players. “My brothers never played down on me to my knowledge which has helped my game progress,” Lopez spoke of his bond with his three brothers. “It was in high school when Robin and Brook started blocking my shots when I knew I couldn’t beat them anymore,” Alex said. Robin and Brook have also had each others back. “I always had a group of friends that I called my best friends and Brook was always a part of that,” Robin said nudging Brook with a smile. The two laid back pair landed them at Stanford playing for the Cardinals where Brook began to make a name for him in NBA talk. ‘Brook has an NBA body and is going to able to score and score well,” Kiki Vandeweghe, Nets General Manager stated before the draft. After one year of domination where he got Honourable Mention All-Pac-10 and made the All-Pac-10 Freshman Team. In March after the madness, Lopez declared himself ready for the NBA. His dream was in reach as he just had to add the effort that he knew he had in him. He pushed harder each day learning more and more from new faces, helping him grow in a short amount of time. “I like to take one thing at a time and get better at it,” Lopez stated on preparing for the draft. NBA scouts were impressed as Lopez was being compared to four time champion, Tim Duncan as his foot movements and post moves were almost mirror to his when he entered the NBA after four years of college. “They definitely love every minute of it,” brother Alex Lopez stated on pre draft workouts. The call was for him to be drafted in the top five as talented bigs in the league are hard to find. He had great workouts with teams but nobody had given him a promise to which spot he would be picked in. Luckily for New Jersey, he fell about ten feet. “I’m just really excited. Jersey, I know they are pretty much rebuilding now and made that big trade today,” Lopez stated minutes after he was selected, “I just hope to bring great energy to the club and help build up the middle defensively.” Lopez entered a Nets team filled with centers and forwards but all were in the same situation as him being young and inexperienced. Of course he wouldn’t have his brother playing beside him whom many questioned on how that would work out. “I won’t have to rely on him, or I won’t be able to rely on him to do the dirty work and stuff like that, so I can show off my game more,” he stated confidently to a crowd of Nets reporters. Though they weren’t born stuck together, there basketball career has been connected since a young age. Brook looks to flourish in an opportunity to politely shun his brother by performing on the highest level of basketball better than him. Given his track record playing the game so far, all signs point he’s heading in the right direction.
Sorry about it being so tight. It's the way I have been taught to write in journalism so I'll try and fix it tommorrow. Hope you enjoy.
